Sweet Revenge
by Saren Kol
Summary: Max and Logan receive a strange package with a puzzling threat.  Can they put the pieces together in time to save the city?  REPOSTED FROM MY OLD PROFILE!


Disclaimer: The only things I own in this story are Wittfield, Conway and Mentalos. Everything else belongs to Fox.

Summary: Logan and Max receive some odd packages. Who could be sending them and more importantly, what do they want?

Timeline: This takes place sometime after Female Trouble

Thanks: Massive thanks to Stargurl for being my beta!

Feedback: please! don't make me beg...mil

'Sweet Revenge'

"Bip Bip Bip!"

"Man, I'd give anything for that man to lose his voice." Original Cindy stated as she walked up to Max and Sketchy. "Just for one day."

"You know as well as I do that if that were to happen," Sketchy offered, "Normal would walk around with the words 'Bip Bip Bip' written on his clipboard; and he'd shove it in our faces."

Max had to laugh at that thought. Sketchy could be an idiot, but every once in a while he got out a few smart ones.

"I don't pay you people to take up space!" Normal's voice bellowed through Jam Pony, "I pay you to work."

Max sighed and walked up to the front desk. "Whatcha got Normal?"

"A package, that needs to be delivered. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept." Normal seemed to have it out for Max all day.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Max replied as Original Cindy walked up behind her.

"Where's it going?" OC asked.

"Foggle Towers." Almost before the words left Normal's mouth Max began reaching for the package. However Normal was ready for her and pulled it back before she could grab it.

"Oh no you don't missy miss, every time you deliver in that sector you spend way more time than you need. From now on you don't deliver in that section. And another thing.." Normal's ranting was broken by Max's beeper. Max looked down and saw the familiar numbers that led to Logan's phone.

"Whatever Normal, but right now I'm on break, and since I'm headed that way.." She grabbed the package from him and headed out the door.

"Don't forget the signature!" Normal called after her. He turned to see OC and Sketchy looking at him.

"What are you looking at?" He grabbed a few packages and tossed them to the duo before him. "Here, now bip!"

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Max picked the lock and let herself in as usual. "Knock knock!"

"In here Max." Came Logan's voice from the bedroom. Max froze when she realized where he was. 'Do I really want to go in there?' She decided she'd just go to the door and see what he wanted.

"Good thing you paged, I need something from you." Max started as she got to his bedroom door.

"Oh really?" Logan asked as he looked over to where Max was standing. Suddenly Max found that she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, all she could do was look at the sight before her. Logan was wearing a pair of khaki pants and no shirt, his wet hair glistened and a freshly used towel laid on the bed. His feet were bare and he had about two days of stubble on his face. After what seemed like forever Max realized that she was staring and blushed slightly as she shifted her gaze to the floor.

"So what is it Max?"

"Huh?"

"You said you needed something from me?"

'If only you knew what I needed from you' She thought, but instead she said "Oh yea, I've got a package for you, need you to sign for it."

"A package?" Logan asked as he put on a T-shirt and wheeled over to her. "Who's it from?"

"Doesn't say." she replied. Logan took her clipboard and signed for the package.

"That's odd, I'm not expecting anything." Logan took the package from Max and began to open it while she went in search of food. Inside was a picture frame placed upside down in tissue paper. Carefully he picked up the frame and turned it over. "What the hell?"

Curiosity winning out over hunger, Max walked back to the living room where Logan had just entered to see what was going on.

"So what is it?" She asked.

Logan handed her the picture frame with a very confused look on his face. It didn't take long to see what Logan was unsettled about. Inside the picture frame was a picture of them standing on the beach, inches apart, smiles adorned both of their faces.

A small grin made it's way across Max's face. "I remember this day."

"So do I," Logan stated. "Question is, why is someone else remembering it?"

Det. Matt Sung sat at his desk twirling his pen around in his fingers. It had been a slow day so far, a rarity in Post-Pulse Seattle. As much as Matt liked the idea of no major crimes going down, he hated sitting around with nothing to do. He was lost in his thoughts of how to get out of work early when his phone rang startling him back to reality.

"Det. Sung."

"Matt? I need favor." Logan's voice greeted him through the phone.

"Sure thing Logan, what can I do for you."

"I need some hoverdrone footage."

"Okay, give me the date and place and I'll see what I can find." Logan quickly rattled off a date, place and time. Matt wrote down the information and brought up a search program on his computer. "This may take some time, do you want me to call you back if I get something?"

"Yea, thanks Matt."

"Anything I should be worried about?"

"Not yet, I'll let you know if it turns out to be anything."

"Okay, I'll call you when I get something." Matt hung up the phone and upon seeing that the search was indeed going to take a while went back to twirling his pen.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Max sat on the couch holding the picture. The thought of someone anomously sending a picture of her and Logan's most intimate moments scared her. She looked at the frame, it was silver with flowers and hearts imprinted on it. Thoughts of crazed stalkers danced through Max's head. 'Why would someone do something like this? I mean, we're not even like that.'

"I talked to Matt," Logan began, "He's looking up the hover drone footage so we can see if that's where the picture came from."

"What do you think this means?" Max asked.

"Well," Logan scratched his stubble as he thought, "Judging from the frame I'd say it's not intended to be a threat, but it's definitely meant to be a message of some kind."

"I doubt it has anything to do with Eyes Only," Max studied the frame and shrugged, "And somehow I don't think Lydecker would pick out such a cute frame."

She turned her head to smile at Logan.

'I love it when she smiles like that.' Logan thought. He reached out to take the picture from her and studied it. "I guess it would be hopeless to try to get prints from it."

"I wouldn't bother, who ever did this will show up sooner or later." She stood up, grabbed her jacket and headed toward the door.

"And what if they show up with very big guns Max? We need to figure out what's going on." he pleaded with her. The truth was, he was stalling, he didn't want her to leave.

"You know what Logan, you worry too much. Now I've gotta get back to work before Normal kills me. See ya tonight?"

"Sure thing, in the mean time I'll see what I can find out about who sent this."

||| Jam Pony |||

"Where the fire truck is Max!" Normal's voice screamed out to anyone that was paying attention.

"Calm down Normal, I'm sure Max is out delivering packages." Sketchy answered.

"Normal, did you honestly expect her to come back?" Original Cindy waked up to the front desk and placed a hand on her hip.

"Yes." Normal answered harshly.

Cindy sighed, "She'll be in tomorrow, and she'll lay down the whole skinny."

"I'll probably be getting another one of those 'doctor' notes, and she'll be gone for days." Normal had a good idea where she kept getting her notes, after all he didn't pay her enough to see a good doctor THAT often.

"Maybe so, but she WILL at least call me to make sure I get her ass out of your hot water."

Sketchy, who had made his way to the door turned and made a shush sound. "She's coming." He mouthed.

"Hey Max." Sketchy greeted as he she walked through the door.

"Hey."

"Well Max, let me see." Normal said as he watched her approach. "So far your compatriots have come up with the following reasons that your break has lasted for 3 hours." He began ticking them off on his fingers. "You were hit by a car. You were arrested by the sector cops, that one I'd believe by the way. And you came down with a sudden case of the Shanghi flu." Max simply rolled her eyes as she wheeled her bike to the front desk. "Would you care to give me your explanation?"

Max stared at him blankly and did something that made her boss's jaw drop a few inches. She simply held out her hand and said, "Next package."

Normal eyed her skeptically "Did you get a signature for the last one?"

"Of course. Now, unless you've decided to give me the rest of the day off, give me the next package." He handed her a package, rattled off an address and watched her leave.

When she was gone Sketchy looked over at Normal and OC. "I don't think I'll ever understand women."

Original Cindy just shook her head, "Sugar, I AM a woman and I still don't understand her."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"I'm sending you the footage now Logan." Matt had come through sooner than Logan had expected and he was eager to see what he could find.

"Thanks Matt, I owe you."

"What's this for Logan? I looked it over and there's not much there. Except of course some footage of you and Max on the beach." Logan could almost hear Matt winking on the other end of the line.

"It's for an Eyes Only case I'm working on, I'll let you know if I find anything." Logan hung up the phone and headed for his computer. 'Why does everyone act like there's something going on?' 'Oh come on Cale, you'd love for something to be going on.' "Yea, like that'll ever happen."

"Like what'll happen?"

Logan spun around. 'Did I say that out loud?' "Hey Bling."

"Everything okay?" Bling asked with a concerned look on his face. However Logan was back to his computer and didn't hear him. Bling decided to change the subject to something Logan would leave his computer for. "So, is Max coming for dinner?"

Logan glanced at his watch and gasped in shock. "Oh no, I forgot dinner, and Max is gonna be here any time now."

"Don't worry Logan, I'm sure she'll understand."

Logan looked up at his friend, "Have you ever had to deal with her on an empty stomach?"

Bling just laughed as he followed Logan into the kitchen.

"So, is everything okay? You seemed a little tense when I came in." Bling asked as he started to slice up the peppers Logan had given him.

"I got a really odd package today. It might be nothing, but with Max and my backgrounds we can't be too careful."

"So it deals with Max too, what is it?"

"A picture of us together." Logan sighed as he looked down at his limp legs. "When I was walking."

Bling noticed Logan's change in attitude. "Logan Cale, don't you dare start thinking about that. Max likes you whether your walking or not."

"Yeah" was all Logan said as he got back to cooking dinner.

||| Max and OC's apartment |||

"Alright Max, what's going on?" Original Cindy asked as they walked into their apartment.

"What are you talking about OC? I'm fine."

"Don't front. You've been all uptight since you came back from delivering that package by Logan's place. Now spill." she finished in a commanding tone.

"The package was for Logan." Max began.

"So you got to see your boy."

"Yeah, I was just gonna stay for a bit and maybe get some lunch, but then he opened the package."

"So what was in it?"

"A picture, of me and Logan." She looked her best friend in the eyes, "OC, when that picture was taken, we were alone. Nobody was around but a stupid hoverdrone."

"You thinkin' it was those black helicopter guys."

Max shook her head. "I doubt it, it came in a silver frame that had hearts and flowers on it, not something you'd associate with a covert military operation."

"So who do you think sent it?"

"There wasn't a return address, Logan's seeing what he can find out. It's kinda creepy though."

"I'm sure it will all work out, now you better change and get going over there. Dinner's probably getting cold."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"Knock Knock"

Logan, with Bling's help, had just finished dinner when Max arrived. It didn't take long for the spices to hit Max full force making her stomach growl. It was then that she realized she hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Ever notice how cats seem to show up around dinner time?" Logan teased. Max smiled remembering the first time he'd said that to her.

"It's not fair when it's you cooking dinner. Somehow it just kinda draws me in." Max strode into the kitchen to peek at what was for dinner. She was not disappointed as she was met with garlic chicken, buttered potatoes and steamed broccoli.

"I got the footage from Matt, but it looks like the picture didn't come from there." Logan said as he started dishing out dinner.

"So we're back to square one."

"Not exactly, now that we know where it didn't come from it should make it easier to figure out where it did come from."

Max and Logan took their dinners into the dining room and sat down. Max was practically drooling as she started into her dinner, the potatoes melted in her mouth. Logan watched as Max savored the taste. 'She looks so good when she does that.' He thought. 'Cale, one of these days your gonna have to tell her how you feel or your gonna go nuts.' Logan chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" Max asked him. Logan started to panic but then he saw his way out.

"You have some potato on your lip." Max reached out with her tongue and licked the food away. Logan had to stifle a groan as he watched.

'Girl you need to stop this,' Max chastised herself, 'He doesn't think of you that way, no matter how much you want him to.' 'Oh yea, then why did his eyes follow your tongue just a second ago?' came the little voice inside her head, the one that usually got her into trouble. 'Hormones.' she answered. Satisfied with her answer she focused her attention toward the food on the table instead of the man in front of her.

After dinner they moved to the living room and Logan set up the chess set. They completed 2 games before the picture came up again.

"Rook to Queen 7." Logan announced as he moved his piece. "You're move Max." Logan couldn't help but smile, he was sure to win this time.

Max just looked up at Logan and smiled, "Sorry Logan." She picked up her bishop and attacking the newly moved knight, placed Logan's king in checkmate.

Logan threw up his hands in defeat and threw Max a challenging look, "One of these days Max Guevera, I will win."

Max decided she would have fun with this and gave Logan the most suggestive look she could manage and replied, "Only if I let you." Logan had to work hard to control his breathing and decided to change the subject before things got out of hand.

"So I was thinking, it had to be somebody with a camera."

"But who else know we were out there? And if they're not from Manticore or an enemy of Eyes Only then why take a picture. None of this makes any sense." Max stood up and walked to the large window. Besides the space needle, this was becoming her favorite place to think.

"We'll get to the bottom of this Max." Logan wheeled up to beside where Max stood. Outside it began to rain.

||| Jam Pony - Next day |||

"So Max, did Logan find out anything about that picture?" Original Cindy asked Max as they put their things away in their lockers.

"Not much."

"Well you don't seem to think it comes from the guys at Manticore. Maybe somebody just thought you looked cute together." Cindy smiled at Max encouragingly.

Max gave her a look that said 'Yea right' and walked off to see what Normal had for her.

"Bip Bip people! Max package!" Max walked up to the front desk and held her hand out.

"Address?"

"You." he said as he handed her an envelope and walked off. Curiously Max looked at the envelope and noticed that the package was indeed addressed to her. Carefully she opened it and pulled out a card. On the front of the card was two hearts intertwined. Slowly she opened the card and almost dropped it. Inside was a picture of her and Logan playing chess. It wasn't any ordinary chess game though. It was the game they played the night before. Max recognized the looks they were giving each other. The sultry way she was looking at him and the look of desire in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Normal!" Max almost yelled his name, "I don't feel well, I need the day off."

Normal was about to protest but thought better of it, so he rolled his eyes and waved her off.

Max sped frantically on her bike all the way to Logan's penthouse. She ran up the stairs and burst through his door. Logan was in the kitchen making a sandwich for lunch, but upon seeing Max's state of distress he dropped everything.

"Max, what's wrong?" he asked her. Max thrust the card at Logan; he took it carefully and opened it. His eyes went wide as he looked from the card to Max. "This is getting weird Max. We were alone. Nobody knew we were here together."

"I know Logan. I just can't seem to figure what would possess a person to do this." Max looked as confused as Logan felt.

"Max, it looks like someone is doing this to get our attention." Logan began.

"Yeah, well it's working."

"What ever it is they want, they have to let us know at some point."

"Maybe." Max walked over to where Logan had placed the framed picture of them on the beach. It was sitting on the coffee table next to the couch, out for everyone to see. Max found herself smiling as she picked it up to look at it. As she studied the picture she noticed some inconsistencies. "Logan?"

"Yeah, what is it?" He asked as he wheeled over to her.

Max didn't answer him right away; instead she turned the frame over and gently opened the back. She nodded her head and handed the opened frame to Logan. "I thought so."

On the back of the picture inside the frame was a note addressed to both of them.

Logan and Max,

I have been watching you, as by now I am sure you are aware.

I know what you do, and I know what you are.

You will be contacted.

A friend

"Okay, this officially went from freaky to scary." Logan said as he finished reading the note.

Max stared at the table for a moment wrestling with her emotions before coming to a decision. "How long will it take to pack up Eyes Only?"

"That could be a while depending on if the informant net has been compromised or not." Logan began to pick up on what Max was saying. "Why?"

"I'm leaving Seattle, and you're coming with me. It's not safe here anymore."

"Max we don't even know what they want yet." Max began to protest but Logan held up his hand, "Besides, if this person is watching us, they would know that we were leaving. They could follow us and where would that leave us?" When Max didn't answer he continued, "Nowhere Max. We can't run, not yet."

Max started to argue but she realized Logan wasn't leaving. And after last time she realized that she couldn't leave without him. He had become too close of a friend to leave behind. "Okay, but if this creep makes one hostile move we are so out of here."

"Deal."

They both sat quietly thinking about the current situation. Max finally broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, how about lunch?"

That brightened Max's mood enough for her to smile. "Sounds great." They both headed toward the kitchen and Logan started preparing their meal.

A few minutes later the phone rang.

||| Jam Pony |||

"Dude what's gotten into Max lately?" Sketchy asked Original Cindy over lunch. "I mean I know she's got stuff going on and all but she's been really weird lately."

"Eat your food fool!" She replied as she smacked Sketchy on the back of the head. "Max is a big girl, I'm sure whatever going down, she got it under control."

"You think she's wanted by the cops?" Sketchy brightened at the idea, "I mean that wanted poster a while back looked just like her."

Original Cindy was about to smack him again when Normal came over. "You two, You're pulling Max's slack today. Now clean up this mess and get back to work." Without wasting anymore time, he walked off to yell at someone riding their bike indoors.

"Aw man." Sketchy tossed the remains of his sandwich in the trash and began to walk off.

"Sketchy, how many times has Max done runs for you cause you were too drunk to even know what a bike was?" Original Cindy said, "You don't even need to be tripping over this."

Sketchy sighed, "Yeah, I guess you right. Come on, let's see what Normal's got for us."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan and Max looked at the phone and then each other. On the third ring Logan wheeled over and answered it. "Yeah." he said curtly into the phone.

"Logan Cale." Came the voice on the phone, it wasn't a question but a statement. The man on the other end seemed to be using a voice scrambler similar to the one Logan used for his Eyes Only broadcasts.

"Who is this?" Logan asked as he grabbed for a nearby pad of paper and a pen. He scribbled the words 'trace and record' and handed it to Max. She immediately went to Logan's computer and began the trace.

"All in due time Mr. Cale. I see you have Ms. Guevera with you. What is she doing at your computer?"

Logan was getting tired of this game. "She's playing solitaire, now what do you want."

"I need information; and you are the best at getting information aren't you Mr. Cale?" The caller seemed to enjoy stringing the conversation along. Logan looked over toward Max and she gave him the thumbs up sign.

"Did she win?" the voice asked.

"What?"

"I said did she win? I wouldn't think an X-5 would be interested in sharing her score from such a menial game." Logan tensed visibly at the mention of X-5. Not many knew about Manticore, let alone the '09 escapees. "I see you don't like the idea that I know that Max is an X-5." The voice chuckled into the phone, "It's quite obvious really, you should tell her to be more careful."

"Enough games. Now tell me who you are and how you know so much about us."

"As I said, in due time. For now I need information."

"What kind of information?" Logan had no intention of giving this man anything.

"There is a man by the name of Keith Wittfield. I want whatever information you can find about him."

"Why, has he committed a crime?"

"Just find the information. I will contact you again tomorrow to check on your progress."

"Or what? What will you do if I don't?" Logan asked, but he already knew the answer.

"The one thing both of you fear the most. Exposure."

Logan heard the click of the line being disconnected and hung up the phone. Turning toward Max he asked, "What did you get?"

Max shook her head, "It was a cell phone, I got the number but when I tried to triangulate the location all I got was a lot of interference."

"Well at least we have a number." Logan replied as he wheeled himself to his computer, "I'm going to run a check to see if anything comes up."

Max had listened to the whole conversation as the computer recorded it. "Are you going to look that guy up for him?" Logan thought about it. There was something about this 'Keith Wittfield' that made the caller desperate for information. Maybe it was worth looking into.

"I'll do a little digging, get some basic 'on the top' stuff. That should appease our caller for a while.

"It seemed like he was watching us from some sort of vantage point." Max stated, "He wasn't able to pick out any details."

"Right, like what you were doing on the computer."

"Maybe I could do a little 'recon' tonight and see if I can find where he's hiding at."

Logan shook his head dismissing the idea. "Max, there's too much for you to search, not to mention it's too dangerous, even for you."

"I'm not going to break into any apartments or anything, I'll take the picture of us playing chess." She moved to the kitchen where they had left the card and picked it up. "I should be able to figure out what building it was taken from by the angle the picture shows."

"That might work. In any case it would give us something to go on with this guy." Logan turned toward his computer, "In the meantime I'll see what I can find about this Wittfield."

"Okay, well I'm going to go home and get some stuff ready for tonight." Max turned and headed for the door.

"Max." Logan called out, "Dinner tonight?"

"Of course, I'm no good at recon with an empty stomach." Max joked as she left.

Logan turned his attention back to his computer. "Okay Keith Wittfield, who are you?"

||| Max's Apartment |||

Max walked in and plopped down on the couch. In her hands she held the picture she had received earlier that day. As she looked at the picture the events of the past few days paraded through her head. 'I wonder if he knows where I live?' She asked herself, then she shrugged off the thought. 'I can't start thinking about that, focus on the facts girl!' Max put the picture down and stood up. This whole situation was really starting to annoy her. She looked down at her watch, it read 4:27. 'Cindy should be home soon.' Max grabbed a towel and headed toward the bathroom so she could get in a shower before her roommate came home.

Twenty minutes later, Max came out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. She headed for her closet to pick out an outfit for dinner. When Original Cindy arrived, Max was stuck between a short purple T-shirt and her red sweater. Both were cut short and showed off her curves, she had decided that either would go well with the black fitted jeans she was planning on wearing.

"What up Boo?" Original Cindy asked from the doorway, "Everything alright?"

Max held up the two shirts, "What do you think?"

"Well," OC began, "The purple shows off all your curves, but I've heard that men love red." A smile played on OC's face, "You got a hot date or something?"

Max shrugged, "Dinner at Logan's."

"Planning on a little more than dinner?" Original Cindy couldn't help but tease Max. It was so obvious to everyone that something was going on between them.

Max reverted to her old saying, "We're not even like that. I going over for dinner and then I'm helping him out with some stuff."

"Sure you are Boo, what ever you gotta tell yourself. Personally I got a cute little shorty waiting for me at Crash tonight, so IF you come home, don't wait up." Cindy smiled and headed off to her bedroom.

Max finally decided on the purple shirt and started getting her stuff ready. She moved about the room grabbing everything she would need. Max decided to pack her cat suit so she could change after dinner. She grabbed her grappling kit, lock pick and several other assorted items and placed them in her pack. It wasn't long before she was done and heading out the door.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"Find anything?" Max asked startling Logan out of his staring contest with his computer monitor.

"You know Max, you could try knocking every once in a while."

"What, and risk losing my skillful lock picking abilities?"

Logan laughed, he enjoyed her sarcasm and missed it when she was gone. "I found a lot on this guy actually. Seems he's been dealing with some of Seattle's worst."

"Oh," Max feigned excitement, "Do tell."

Logan shook his head and sighed. Turning back to his computer he pulled up a window containing information about the man in question. "He had a small electronics store downtown before the pulse called Trendtronic."

"Guess his stock isn't doing to good these days."

"Your right, if it wasn't for the riots he would have been fine. He was closed the day the pulse hit and since everything in the store was turned off it wasn't effected. But during the riots everything was either smashed or stolen."

Logan brought up another window showing a news article. The headline read 'Garden business raided, everything destroyed.' "He owned the building his shop was in so he cleaned it out and started growing fruits and vegetables inside. However, when people found out where his produce was coming from he got hit again. This time the thieves weren't so nice, they torched the place when they were done."

"Ouch."

"After that it looks like his wife suggested politics. He ran for a few minor offices and got picked up for director of waste management."

"Seattle has a waste management?"

"Apparently; he made his way up a few positions, but always minor rolls. Then he won his fourth run at Director of City Records by a landslide. I figured that was a bit odd since he was beaten so badly the other three times he had tried; so I looked deeper. It seems that Harbor Lights was reporting a lot of beatings before the elections. But most of the victims chose not to file complaints with the sector police. The few that did..."

"Ended up dead." Max finished for him, "Looks like he decided being good wasn't getting him anywhere. What was the trade off?"

"Money, what else? Several society types got a nice deduction from their bank accounts, any guess on how the bad guys got the account info?"

"How long ago was this?"

"2016, Three years ago."

"So why would this guy want you to look up dirt on him now, why not three years ago?"

"Rumor has it that Wittfield is planning on running for Mayor next year. And if he had that much help for a position like Director of City Records..." Logan let the end of his statement hang in the night air.

"So I guess I'll be doing recon on this Wittfield guy tonight instead of our mystery caller." Max said.

"No, I have enough info to work with when that guy calls tomorrow. You can do recon on Wittfield tomorrow."

Max gave Logan a look of shock, "Logan Cale putting off bringing down scum?"

Smiling shyly Logan replied, "Actually I was hoping you would still be up to trying to find where our mystery caller is hiding at."

Max rolled her eyes, "Protect the downtrodden, Blah Blah Wolf Wolf."

"Except this time Max, WE are the downtrodden."

"Fine, but I'm not doing any work until I get food."

Logan chuckled and said, "Dinner's in the oven."

Max smiled as she turned toward the kitchen, "What can I say, an army marches on its stomach."

Logan had prepared another miracle, Cajun roast beef, baby carrots and pasta adorned the plates before them. Logan handed Max a glass of wine and looking into her eyes. They both held the look for a moment before they each turned away. 'She's so beautiful' he thought, 'Alright Cale, that's enough. Falling for this girl will get you nothing but trouble, besides she deserves someone better, even walking I'm no match for her.'

'Logan looks so good in the candle light.' Max sat there thinking to herself. 'It's almost too bad we don't have that kinda of relationship. But maybe it's easier this way, if we do have to run we'd have to split up at some point. Still, it would be nice sometimes to just let someone like Logan take me in his arms and push everything else away.'

"What are you thinking about?" Logan's question brought Max out of her mental conflict and back to reality.

"What would happen if we have to run." She poked at her food absent mindedly.

"We can think about that if and when it happens." Logan assured her. "Right now we're in no immediate danger, so relax a little." 'The only danger here tonight is the one my heart is trying to put itself into.'

"I guess." She took a bite of the roast beef and allowed the sweet, tangy juices to invade her mouth. To Max, little else was as close to heaven as Logan's cooking. "Logan, this is delicious."

"I'm glad you approve."

When they finished dinner they moved to the living room and Logan pulled out the chessboard. "You want to play? There's still an hour or so before it's dark enough for you to go out safely."

"Aren't you tired of me beating you yet?" quipped Max as she began to prepare her side of the board.

Logan stopped, a thought formed in his head. He looked at Max and smiled. "I've got a better idea." He said. When Max looked at him in confusion he reached over to where he kept his board games and pulled out a long box. The word 'Risk' was printed in large letters on the top and pictures on ancient military commanders took up the rest of the space. Max looked on with interest as Logan opened the box and began to set up the game. "The rules are simple Max, we each start out with a set number of armies and countries, then we take turns building our armies and finally we attack each other in an effort to take over the world."

"Logan, are you sure you want to play this with me? We both know who's gonna win."

"True, but the look on you face when I actually do beat you will be priceless."

"You?" Max was taken back a little at his level of confidence with this game. After all, she had years of strategy training, and he didn't. "Okay you're on."

"Wanna make it interesting?"

"How interesting?"

"If you win, I'll make your lunch for work for the next two weeks."

"And if you win?" 'Highly unlikely' Max added silently.

"You cook dinner for me when this whole thing is over."

"Logan, I burn water."

"That's not what Original Cindy told me. She told me that you did a really good job cooking chicken a while back, a little too much garlic, but I'm sure I can help you fix that."

"And if I burn your place down, you gonna fix that too?" Max couldn't believe Logan was trying to get her to cook for him, was he crazy. 'He must realize that he has no possibility of winning.'

"That's what fire extinguishers are for. Now, do we agree on the terms?"

"Sure whatever."

Logan handed out the initial army pieces and cards, and after showing Max what to do they started the game. It didn't take Max long to dominate the Western Hemisphere, and she was moving her way across Europe when she saw it. Logan came in across the bearing straight and in one move conquered most of North America. He has taken Asia in the very beginning and now ruled over almost three-fourths of the board.

"You let your guard down Max, I thought you were trained better than that." He couldn't help but tease her. "Ready to give up yet?"

"Never" She called out playfully. Max surveyed the board, Logan had come up pretty strong, she had to move troops to her boarders but she couldn't do that until the end of her turn. Seeing there was no where she could attack and gain a strategic advantage she decided to hold position and jump right into fortifying her troops.

Logan just smiled, with his next turn he claimed 6 more countries. This left Max with only 5 countries, none touching and all too weak to mount any sort of good attack. Max studied the board harshly for a moment before throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Alright Logan you win."

Logan flashed Max a sexy smile, "Told you."

Max looked out the window and down to her watch, "Time to go even the odds a little." She got up and grabbed her bag on the way to the guestroom to change.

Logan picked up all the game pieces and carefully placed them back in the box. He was putting the box away when Max came back out, ready for action. It had been a while since Logan had seen Max in her catsuit, he had forgotten how much of her body it showed off. Memories of when they first met came back to him. So much had happened since then, so much had changed between them. He wanted to tell her how important her safety really was to him, but all that came out was, "Be careful."

Max smiled, "Always am." With that said, she headed out the door.

||| Outside Foggle Towers |||

Max crept silently along the roof of the third building. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered the last time she was on that roof, preparing to go and break into Logan's apartment, a night that changed her life. There were four buildings in the area that the picture could have possibly come from, the first two had yielded no results. As she neared the edge of the roof Max pulled out the picture, using her enhanced sight, she walked along the edge comparing angles. Within moments she hit pay dirt. 'That narrows things down a bit. Now to see what floor he's hiding on.' Max brought out her pack and began to assemble her repelling gear.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"This guy sounds dangerous, what can I do to help?" Sebastian's metallic voice sounded through the computer speakers. Logan had called him to ask for help with the current situation.

"Max recorded the call," Logan explained, "I was hoping you could run it through some descramblers so we can hear the guy's real voice. Maybe we can figure out who it is."

"Send it to me and I'll run it through some of my equipment. I'll let you know if I get anything."

"Thanks Sebastian, I'm sending it to you now." Logan sent the file and closed the connection. He turned and wheeled himself to his large picture window and stared at the buildings across the way. He knew Max could take care of herself, but that didn't stop him for worrying.

||| Outside 23rd Floor across from Foggle Towers |||

Max knew she was getting close, every floor that she had looked at on her way down so far was closer and closer to what she was looking for. Slowly she descended to the next floor down, when she was at a good level with the window she turned to look at Logan's Building. 'This is it.' She said to herself as she turned back around to peer into the window. What she saw made her heart sink, the apartment was completely empty. Max tried the window and found it unlocked, cautiously she opened the window and went inside.

Looking around she noted that whoever was here had done a good job of cleaning up after themselves. The walls had been newly scrubbed, the floor was spotless, and not a particle of dust was to be found. Something about the sterialness of the room caused a chill to run down Max's spine. The only thing indicating that anyone had been there was a single heavy white sheet of paper in the middle of the floor. Max reached down and lifted the paper from the ground. A simple equation was scrawled in black ink. 'Betrayal = Exposure' Max turned the paper over to reveal two pictures set side by side. One was of a young Max, taken back at Manticore, the other was of Logan's eyes shining through a red, white and blue banner, the words 'Streaming Freedom Video' prominently displayed.

Tucking the paper inside her jacket she turned back toward the window and disappeared into the night.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan sat in his wheelchair trying desperately not to fall asleep, it was past midnight and he hadn't been sleeping too good lately. Bling had given him some muscle relaxants to help him sleep but Logan knew those wouldn't help. He didn't tell Bling the real reason he wasn't sleeping well. Part of the reason he didn't want to sleep now, aside from wanting to make sure Max was okay. Logan had been having nightmares. Not the ones he used to have of Eyes Only missions gone wrong; ever since Zack tried to take Max away he had nightmares about her landing right back in Manticore. Since the current events started, his nightmares got even worse. Now it was both of them running, no Zack, just Logan and Max. It was funny how nightmares always start out with something nice. In his dreams, he was slowing Max down and he knew it, but she wouldn't leave him. They would start to get closer, often in his dreams they would even kiss, passionately. Then it would happen, men in black military uniforms would break in and grab her. Max would scream his name begging for him to help her, but he couldn't move, he couldn't help her. That was usually when he woke up screaming her name.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"You didn't have to wait up Logan." Max walked up behind Logan startling him.

Logan turned around to look at Max, she couldn't help but notice how tired he looked. "I just wanted to see if you found anything. Plus I'm hoping Sebastian will have something soon on our callers real voice."

"Even if we get the real voice, there's a good chance we won't even recognize it. That won't do us much good."

"No, but anything is better than nothing." Logan pointed to the white corner sticking out of Max's jacket. "Find anything?"

"Yeah." Max pulled out the paper and handed it to Logan. "Another message from out friend." Logan looked it over quickly and handed it back to Max. "Except for this, the place was empty. Our guy went out of his way to clean this place."

"Looks like he wanted to make sure you got the note." Logan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Max suggested. 'I wonder if he's coming down with something?' she thought.

"No I need to do some stuff, I'll sleep later." Logan began to push himself toward his computer.

"Oh no you don't Logan." He turned around to look at her, shocked slightly at her commanding tone. "You're pushing yourself too hard. If your not careful you'll burn out, and I'm not about to let that happen."

"So what are you now, my nanny?" Logan regretted his words almost the instant they were out of his mouth, but his pride wouldn't let him back down.

"Looks like that's what you need." Max spat back at him. Before Logan could blink, Max lifted him out of his chair, carried him to his bedroom and sat him on his bed. She went back and got his chair, wheeling it next to the bed. "I'm going to get some sleep in the guest room. Just yell if you need anything." Max spun on her heel and walked out. Logan hated it when she was mad at him, but he couldn't help notice how cute she looked when she was.

||| Jam Pony - Next Morning |||

"...you tell her if she's not in here in the next twenty minutes she can look for a new place to work!" Normal told Original Cindy when Max didn't show up for work. Cindy sighed, walked over to the phone and punched in Max's pager number.

"Girl you better either be fighting bad guys or in bed with your Boo."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Max woke up to something delicious hanging in the air. She had a small seizure during the night and after taking some tryptophan, slept soundly until the sun was already up. Max rolled out of bed, got dressed and followed the delightful smell of French toast and coffee. She got to the kitchen to see Logan cooking the last slices of toast.

"You know a girl could get used to this." Max said as she sat on a stool. "Gourmet dishes every meal."

Logan turned and placed a plate piled high with French toast on the kitchen table. "Peace offering." He looked down at his feet, "I shouldn't have said that. I was out of line."

"You know Logan, one of these days your cooking won't work as a bribe anymore."

Logan flashed a bright smile, "Then I'll have to think of something better."

Max grabbed a fork and began stacking slices of toast on her plate. "Your looking better, did you sleep well?"

"Actually I did." It wasn't a lie, it was the first night in a long while that he didn't have a nightmare. Part of him wondered if it was because Max was there, where he knew she was safe, where he felt he was able to protect her.

Max was almost finished eating her breakfast when her pager went off. She looked down and saw that it was Original Cindy. Max scarfed down the last bite, finished her glass of milk and went to call her friend.

Max reached for the phone when it rang loudly. Smiling she thought to herself, 'Normal must be on the warpath.' She answered the phone in her usual manner, "Hey." she said.

"Hello Ms Guevera." Max felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, especially those near her barcode where she was most sensitive. "Did you enjoy your breakfast?"

"What do you want?" she answered coldly. Logan noticed the change in her attitude and moved over to where she was.

"You've never been one for small talk have you?"

"Is this going anywhere? Cause I'm about to hang up."

"Did you find anything?"

"Logan found some stuff about your guy. Pretty cut and dry if you ask me." Max was starting to get really annoyed with him, "I'm just wondering why all the cloak and dagger? You must have the means to just take him out."

"I meant, did you find anything in the apartment last night." If Max was caught off guard, she showed no sign of it.

"No, was I supposed to?"

The voice on the phone made a tisk tisk sound. "After everything I've shown you, after everything I know, you still think you can trick me? I thought you were better at this game."

"I don't like playing with a pair of heavy dice," she replied. "Now what do you want."

"What do you plan to do about Keith?"

"What do you want us to do?" Max wasn't going to help this guy any more than she needed to. Logan had the info he needed to start making a file on Keith Wittfield, they didn't need anything more from this guy.

"You could do well to learn some manners 452." Max smiled as she noted the slight agitation in the man's voice.

"Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to be scared?"

"Let me talk to Mr Cale."

"Or intimidated? Cause I'm shaking in my boots here."

"Put Mr Cale on the phone now!" The man was practically screaming into the phone.

"I'm sorry but Mr Cale can't come to the phone right now."

She could hear the man breathing through his teeth, his temper was beginning to flare. Calmly but coldly he replied, "He's sitting right next to you."

"So you watching us right now?"

"I'm always watching you."

"Oh yeah, then watch this." Max dropped the receiver and bending down captured Logan in a deep kiss. His hands made fists in her hair pulling her closer and her hands framed his face. When they broke a moment later Max picked the receive back up and placed it to her ear. The only thing she heard was the satisfying sound of the dial tone.

When Logan recovered he looked at Max and realized she was hanging up the phone. "Are you crazy? He could expose us!"

"He won't expose us, not yet. He needs us right now, he knows if he exposes us we'll have no choice but to run. And then we won't be able to finish his little task." Max walked over to the couch and plopped herself down. Logan rolled over next to her.

"So, Max." Logan rung his hands nervously, "That was an interesting way to end a conversation."

"Wasn't it?" she asked. Max stood up and walked past Logan. "I'm going to go take a shower and then I'm gonna call Original Cindy. Normal's probably driving everybody nuts wondering where I'm at."

"I don't think it's safe for you to go to work right now. I'll see if I can get you a doctor's note, give you a couple of days."

"Thanks, I'll see if Cindy can pick it up during lunch." Logan watched Max walk off. He knew full well that Max could take care of herself if something happened, but he really dreaded the idea of being alone.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan had a few contacts in city government, he found out from one of them that Wittfield kept his schedule on his computer in his office. 'Perfect' though Logan, 'Makes things a little easier for me.' It took him only a few moments to hack his way into city hall's computer network and pull up Wittfield's schedule.

8:00AM - Meeting - Mayors office

9:30AM - Meet with Bill Meyer - Campaign issues

11:15AM - Lunch with Sara - Santana's

1:50PM - Doctor's Appointment - Dr Kim

3:45PM - Gym

6:30PM - Dinner - Mr Mentalos

Logan smirked, he couldn't believe that Wittfield would actually write in his schedule a meeting with a known mob boss. Logan jotted down the schedule and started to look for what gym Wittfield was a member of. Since it didn't say where dinner was, Max would have to tail Wittfield from the gym. Simple recon, Max gets the details of the meeting, Logan puts everything together, Eyes Only makes his broadcast.

"Our friend call back yet?" Max walked up the Logan wearing nothing but a large towel. Logan couldn't help but notice how her slightly moist body glistened in the morning light. He promptly glued his eyes to his computer screen.

"Um, not yet."

'What's up with Logan?' Max thought, 'he won't even look at me.' She looked down at herself and realized she was still in nothing but a towel. 'Oh.' Suddenly she felt very modest, without a second thought she slowly backed out of the room and went to get some clothes on.

It's not like Max hadn't walked around in a towel before. Hell, that was part of the reason Logan never had a problem with her showering there. But usually she was getting her clothes ready to get dressed, or they were arguing and neither of them cared. But Max had no real reason to not get dressed this time. 'Has she gotten that comfortable around me?' Logan asked himself, 'Probably the whole good friend/big brother thing. I wonder if she has any idea what guys like me feel when we look at her? Then again she still doesn't realize how Zack feels for her.'

||| Jam Pony |||

Original Cindy walked over to the phone, she had paged Max almost an hour ago. It wasn't like her Boo not to hit her back. Cindy decided this time to call Logan and see if she was doing more 'work' for him.

"If you talk to Max, tell her she's fired." Normal called to her, Original Cindy just rolled her eyes and waited for Logan to answer.

"Hello" Logan sounded tense to Original Cindy as he answered the phone. She decided to not go off on him just yet.

"Where's my girl? Normal's about to fire her ass if she don't get in here."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"Ah, hey Cindy. Max isn't feeling well, so she's staying here for a few days." He didn't have to tell Original Cindy twice that something was up.

"Let me talk to Max." Logan handed the phone off to Max who had just walked in the room.

"Hey, I was about to call ya back. Normal going postal?"

"You know it. Listen, Logan said you were sick, I can get that past Normal but I'm gonna need a note or something."

"Not a problem, can you come by during your lunch break and pick it up?"

"Only if your man's cooking. After hearing you talk about how good it is, I need to get me some."

Max smiled at Logan, "I'm sure I can talk him into it. See ya then." Logan gave Max a quizzical look as she hung up the phone. "Feel like having an extra guest for lunch?"

Logan beamed at Max, "As long as she likes pasta."

A couple of hours later Logan was putting on the finishing touches on lunch. Max was out seeing how much security Wittfield liked to keep around him and was due back any moment. A knock at the door called Logan away from him masterpiece. He opened the door to find Original Cindy. "Hey Cindy." She was about to say 'Hey' back but her stomach beat her to the punch and growled loudly. Logan just laughed, "Come on in, Max is out for the moment but she should be back soon. Lunch is almost ready."

"So what's she helping you with?" Original Cindy inquired as she followed Logan into the kitchen.

Logan hesitated for a second, unsure what to say. "I'm working on a story and Max is helping with the research." OC's only response to that was a look that stated very loudly that she didn't begin to believe him. But she didn't say anything more about it and instead investigated the sauce as Logan drained the pasta. A few minutes later Max walked in the door.

"OC!" Max went up and hugged her best friend. "Thanks for smoothing things out with Normal for me. It's just with everything that's been happening lately I'm not so sure it's safe to be at work."

Original Cindy nodded her head. "I thought those pictures were of you and Logan together. Are you sure you're safe here?"

Logan and Max looked at each other and then back to OC. "I'm safe here." Max answered.

"Why do I get the feeling you still not telling me everything Max."

Max's eyes dropped to the floor, she hated not being able to tell her everything. "It's not my secret to tell."

Max could see the sadness and disappointment in Cindy's eyes. "I guess with your background there's a few things I'm better off not knowing. I just want you to know I still got your back no matter what. Original Cindy don't spill on her Boo."

"Thanks."

"So," Logan said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had ensued, "Who's hungry?"

Original Cindy broke into a grin and held up her hand, "Me!"

"So let's eat already!" Logan returned with a grin of his own.

Max smiled as she followed Logan's lead and dished out some pasta onto a plate. 'Logan to the rescue' she joked to herself.

"So what did you find out?" Logan asked as he started cleaning up the dishes from lunch. Original Cindy had left a few minutes ago and they finally felt safe talking about their current situation.

"He doesn't have much security with him, but I saw three mob guys watching him on his way to lunch." Max handed Logan a plate. "If they become a problem it shouldn't be hard to take them out."

"So tonight should basically be routine for you."

"Yep. Get in, tape bad guy talking bad stuff to other bad guy, and get out."

"That coupled with what I have already should be enough for an Eyes Only broadcast." Logan finished washing the dishes and drained the dirty wash water from the sink. "I almost forgot, Sebastian called while you were out. He was able to descramble our friend's voice. I wasn't able to recognize it though."

"I'll listen to it." Max told him, "Not because I think I'll recognize it now, but because I'll recognize it if I hear it again."

They were headed to Logan's computer when the phone rang. Logan sighed, "You know Max, before the pulse there was this great thing called Caller ID, it told you who was calling before you picked the phone up."

Max shook her head and laughed, "That would be handy right about now."

Logan rolled over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello."

"Mr Cale, you are coming along well with my little task?"

"I should be able to do an Eyes Only hack by morning." Logan spat into the phone, he wanted nothing more than to get this whole thing over with, "Is that good enough for you?"

"For now it is."

"I'm not doing anything else for you." Logan spoke with a conviction he wasn't even sure he had.

"You'll do whatever I say to keep your precious Max safe. I'd hate to see her dragged back to Manticore, I hate it even more if it was your fault." Logan wished he could talk face to face with the man on the other end. If only so he could sink his fist into the other man's face.

"Max can take care of herself."

"True, if I was to expose her I'm sure she'd be able to escape. But not if she stayed behind to help you, not if you slowed her down. She'd get caught, and then it would be your fault. Wouldn't it Mr Cale." Logan pulled the cord out of the wall jack and flung the phone hard across the room. It broke into several pieces when it hit the wall and fell to the floor. Logan felt like he had been hit in the gut. He wanted to cry, but he wouldn't dare let Max see. This maniac that was stalking them had hit pay dirt and delved into Logan's deepest fears. Logan gathered his anger and utter hatred for this man and held onto it tightly. He knew that was what was going to get him through this.

Max had seen Logan angry before but never like this, whatever the other man had said to him had hit Logan hard. Max knew it was something about her, but she also knew better than to try and drag it out of Logan. He had tried to hide it but she had seen the tears welling up behind his eyes. More than anything that had happened so far because of this elusive man, that was the one that made Max the maddest. She had never seen Logan cry, and seeing him that close to tears was almost too much. 'He'll pay for this.' She silently promised Logan, 'When I find him, I'll make sure of it.'

Max and Logan spent the rest of the afternoon on various Eyes Only projects since they could do no more with Wittfield. Max had listened to the unscrambled voice, but as she suspected she didn't know who it belonged to. Before either of them knew it, the day was drawing to a close and it was time for Max to get ready for her recon.

"Max, I don't have a good feeling about this." Logan said as Max was getting changed into her catsuit.

"Logan, you need this information. We can't back out of this now, it's not about our mystery caller anymore. This is a bad guy, and putting away the bad guy is what Eyes Only is about."

"I was thinking there may be a better way. One that doesn't include hunching in the bushes outside." Logan figured she probably wouldn't go for his suggestion but he didn't like the idea of her going alone, not with someone out there watching their every move.

"What do you suggest Logan? Walking right up to him and asking him to spill his plans into my tape recorder? Somehow I don't think he'd go for that."

"Wittfield is going to dinner with Mentalos right? Why don't we have dinner wherever they go. We could tip the waiter to get us close to Wittfield's table and record the conversation from there."

Max thought about his suggestion. Whatever they did they had to do it fast, it was already four-thirty and Wittfield would be finishing up at the gym soon. "Okay Logan, but we have to hurry."

Logan wheeled himself to his bedroom to get changed. After picking out a black turtleneck and khaki pants he reached for a drawer in his closet. There he pulled out a 9mm hand gun. He checked to make sure it was loaded and hid it in his jacket, then he went to meet up with Max who was waiting in the living room.

Max had changed into a pair of low-cut blue jeans and a high cut black mock turtleneck sweater, she had started keeping some clothes at Logan's just in case. The top of her hair was pulled back slightly into a low pony tail showing off her face but still hiding her barcode. "Ready to go?" She asked. Logan nodded and they were out the door. When they reached the parking lot Max got on her bike and Logan in his car. The plan was for Max to tail Wittfield by herself and when she found out where he was going she would contact Logan and he would meet her there. Logan had just gotten himself situated in his Aztec when he heard Max's engine come to life and watched as she sped off. Now all Logan had to do was wait for her phone call.

Max sped down the roads of Seattle on her motorcycle. She loved feeling the wind in her face, the control she had over the bike, the way it became an extension of her own self. Max knew that when ever her life felt too out of control, she could always hop of her bike and leave her problems in the dust. It didn't take long for Max to arrive at the gym. Five minutes later Wittfield stepped out and got into his car. Max watched as he pulled away and when he was far enough ahead, began to follow him.

Wittfield must have been slightly paranoid, because he took every back road he could on the way to his destination. It didn't matter to Max though. One of the reasons she took the job at Jam Pony was to learn every back road in the city inside and out. Wittfield finally stopped in front of an upscale Italian restaurant and went inside. Max found her way to the nearest phone, she quickly rattled off directions and hung up the phone. Parking her bike down the street she waited for Logan.

||| Foggle Towers parking garage |||

Logan was starting to get restless when his cell phone rang, he immediately flipped it open and placed it to his ear. "Max?"

"Yeah it's me. He went into a place called 'Pasta Migliore del Mondo'. Let me give you directions."

"I know the place Max." He confirmed the location. "I'll be there in a few minutes." Logan said as he ended the call. Placing his cell on the seat beside him, Logan started up his Aztec and drove away.

||| Outside Pasta Migliore del Mondo |||

Logan had picked Max up at the other end of the street and drove her to the parking lot. Max helped Logan remove his chair from the car and stood back as he transferred himself out of the car. Logan sighed as he looked around him, the parking lot was made of gravel, it was going to be difficult to push his way to the entrance, gravel provided little to no traction for a wheelchair. He didn't want to ask for Max's help but since they had to keep up a good appearance when they went in, Logan asked for Max's help in getting to the front door. Max didn't say a word as she placed her hands on the back of the chair and began guiding Logan through the gravel.

Once they were out of the parking lot Logan took control of his chair and wheeled himself through the door and to the restaurant's greeter. Standing behind a small podium, the greeter was a tall snobbish man with dark hair combed back on his head. He wore a black suit and black tie. Everything about him displayed elegance, everything that is except the smile plastered on his face that stopped just short of his eyes. Logan had seen that look many times since his accident, but no matter how often he saw it, the pain never dulled. Max walked up behind Logan placed her hand on his shoulder and gently nudged him forward.

"Good evening, my name is Xavier. Two for dinner?" Asked the tall man before them.

"Yes," Logan answered, "two for dinner."

Max peered around the corner into the restaurant and noted that Wittfield and Mentalos were seated in a booth in the back. Max looked at Logan and put on her best puppy dog face. "Logan," She allowed the puppy dog look to turn into a mischievous smile, "Can we get a booth in the back?" Max even batted her eyelids at him for extra effect.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Xavier explained, "all of our booth seats are reserved."

Logan fished into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill, flashing it at Xavier he asked, "There's no booth seats open?"

Xavier palmed the money and smiled, "Actually I've just had a cancellation, right this way please." He lead Max and Logan toward the back wall. When they came close to where Wittfield and Mentalos were seated she brought the bubbly act back out.

Max pointed at a booth next to the two men and said, "Oh that one looks comfy, can we sit there?"

Xavier turned and smiled at Logan, "Does the gentleman agree with the lady's choice in seating?"

Logan pulled out another Hundred dollar bill and handed it to the other man. "It's fine."

Max giggled and went to sit down, Logan wheeled himself close and transferred from the chair to the booth seat next to where Max was sitting. He would have rather had a table but there were none close to this section.

"Someone will be right with you." Xavier told them and left to resume his perch in the front of the restaurant. When he had gone Max pulled out her tape recorder and turned it on. There was a small opening between the booths and Max took advantage of that by placing the recorder there.

"We're going to have to keep up the charade Max." Logan whispered in her ear.

Max giggled and moved to whisper into his ear, "If you tell anyone I acted like this, you'll severely regret it."

Logan smiled and nuzzled Max's neck, he was having fun with this. "What are you going to do Max? Beat me at chess?"

Max let out a moan and keeping up with the play whispered back, "You still haven't tasted my cooking." She lowered her head and nuzzled his neck, tracing his collarbone with her lips making Logan moan himself. "I'm bad enough to make you sick for a week."

Logan smiled, "Your not getting out of our bet that easily."

The sound of someone clearing their throat halted Max and Logan's conversation. They looked up to see a waiter standing there watching them. "Do you know what you would like to order or do you need more time?"

Max figured that since Logan had been there before he had a good idea what was on the menu. Max nibbled at his ear and stated, "Order for me baby."

Logan smiled at the man, "Two steaks, medium rare, pasta linguini with garlic and a bottle of your best red wine."

"Very good sir." The waiter nodded, took their menus and walked toward the kitchen.

When he was gone Max sat up. "Time to get this bitch over with." She concentrated on the conversation behind her. Logan sighed inwardly, he was hoping they could play a little longer. But he knew Max was right, and he turned his attention toward the faint voices coming from the other booth.

Wittfield: I need your help again.

Mentalos: It's rude to discuss business while you're eating Keith.

Wittfield: There is no way I could get elected without your help. Not after last time.

Mentalos: Are you saying we did a bad job back in 2016? It's rude to insult the man that's gonna help you, and I don't like rude.

Wittfield: No, you did a great job. {pause} I need you to do it again, once I'm mayor I can get you anything you want. The cops off your back, all sorts of stuff for the black market. I can even get the sector cops to wage all out war with all of your rival gangs. I can fight you fights for you.

Mentalos: So you want me to do what I did last time?

Wittfield: Yes, only no killing this time. Just, if you have to just don't tell me about it.

Mentalos: I'll collect once you've won the election. And you'd better pay up.

Wittfield stood up and nervously straightened his jacket. Looking around as if scared that he was going to get caught, he quickly walked out of the restaurant. A few minutes later Mentalos followed. Max reached back and stopped the recording, they had gotten what they came for.

Logan looked toward Max, "So did you want to wait for the food or get out of here."

"Is the food any good here?"

"It's alright."

That made up Max's mind. Normally alright would have been just fine, but Logan had managed to spoil the word for her when it came to food. Max smiled at Logan, she could tell he wanted to get back and prepare his hack. Max leaned over and giggled in his ear, trying to keep up the impression they started when they arrived, "Let's get out of here."

Logan smiled and transferred to his wheelchair. It was then that the waiter came over to see what was happening. "Leaving so soon sir, you haven't gotten your food yet."

Max crawled into Logan's lap and looked up toward the waiter through her eyelashes, "Something better came up." she told him. Logan grunted inwardly and wondered if she had noticed that something had indeed come up.

Logan pulled out some more money and handed it to the waiter, "For your trouble." The waiter stepped back to let Logan and Max through and Logan wheeled them out of the restaurant.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan waited for the elevator to reach his floor and thought about what had happened so far that night. Logan decided that first thing he needed when he got home was a cold shower, and fast. Max's bike was parked out front, so she was probably in his apartment already, waiting for him. 'Stop it Cale, you can't think about her like that.' He scolded himself. 'Besides, she deserves better that what you can give her.'

The elevator finally dinged it's location and opened up. Logan unlocked his door and went inside, once there he could clearly see Max sitting in the kitchen eating some strawberries. He took a deep breath and wheeled past her, mumbling something about a shower and sleep.

Max grabbed her jacket and called back to him on her way out. "I'm gonna bounce Logan, I'll come by tomorrow."

Logan listened as she closed the door and sighed, thanking whatever God just saved him from a night of pure torture.

||| Outside Foggle Towers |||

Max sat straddled on her bike looking up at Logan's window. Part of her wanted to go back up there. She could have so easily slept in the guest room and left early enough to get home, change and go to work. But Logan didn't seem like he wanted her to stay. After his performance at the restaurant she was sure he felt something for her.

That was the enigma of Logan, just when she was sure she knew him, he did something totally different from what she was expecting. Max sighed, took one last look at his window and drove off into the night.

||| Logan's Penthouse - The next morning |||

"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. This cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced. It cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. It's not easy to advance in the world of politics, but Mayor hopeful Keith Wittfield found an edge. A deadly edge. In 2016 several people were beaten or killed if they refused to vote for him. He won that election. Now Wittfield is planning the same strategy in his run for Mayor. (Wittfield's voice) I need you to do it again, once I'm mayor I can get you anything you want. The cops off your back, all sorts of stuff for the black market. I can even get the sector cops to wage all out war with all of your rival gangs. I can fight your fights for you. (back to Eyes Only) Working with the mob is a double edged sword Mr Wittfield, and you're about to feel the other blade. This has been an Eyes Only streaming freedom video from the informant net. Peace. Out"

Logan clicked off the camera and put his glasses back on. Now that the Wittfield issue was out of the way, Logan could concentrate on the identity of their mystery man.

||| Sam's Discount Lodge - right outside Seattle |||

He sat in the dark with only the television set on. It would happen this morning, 'Soon' he told himself. As if on que the TV crackled and the familiar Eyes Only logo flashed on the screen.

"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. This cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced. It cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. It's not easy to advance in the world of politics, but Mayor hopeful Keith Wittfield found an edge." The man smiled a toothy grin.

"(Wittfield's voice) I need you to do it again, once I'm mayor I can get you anything you want. The cops off your back, all sorts of stuff for the black market. I can even get the sector cops to wage all out war with all of your rival gangs. I can fight you fights for you."

The figure reached over and turned off the television. He leaned back in his chair and smiled wickedly. "Very good Mr Cale." The man got up, grabbed his coat and walked out.

||| One Month Later |||

Logan had not had any more luck tracking down their mystery man. It seemed to Logan and Max that he had gone away, but neither of them would let the other believe that. The man on the phone had gone through too much trouble just to shut down Wittfield. Somehow they knew they hadn't seen the last of their 'friend'.

||| Jam Pony |||

"Work it!" Original Cindy called as she and Max watched some of the Jam Pony crew perform various stunts on their bikes. The messengers usually bet on who could do the highest jump, who could hold a difficult balancing act the longest and so on. Sketchy was always a favorite in the latter category.

"This is a business not a circus!" Normal shouted to the crowd. Groans and rude comments concerning Normal and a certain part of him anatomy were heard as the group broke up and went back to work.

Max just looked at Normal and said "I'm on break." Since she had just completed a run, Normal didn't say anything to her about it. He did however toss a package in the direction of Original Cindy.

"Your not." He said to her as she caught the flying box, "Now bip." Original Cindy rolled her eyes, said goodbye to Max and headed out the door.

Max plopped herself down on the old couch in front of the TV. The latest news about the rise in the crime rate was being shown on the screen. Max only half listened to the story as she let her thoughts drift off to Logan. He had occupied her mind a lot lately. She thought back to when she had kissed him as a ploy to piss off their caller friend. That was the main reason she had did it, but somewhere in her mind she had been looking for that chance for a while. She had learned back at the cabin just how good a kisser Logan was. For a long time her daydreams revolved around finding an excuse to kiss him again.

Max was brought back to reality by a voice. She recognized the voice immediately but couldn't place from where. Max straightened up and peered at the TV. A tall blonde man stood behind a podium and was announcing his plan to run for Mayor. Max's stomach dropped when she realized who she was seeing. The voice matched that of their mystery caller, their stalker, the one man that knew who she and Logan really were. Without even thinking Max raced out the door and headed for Logan's building.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan couldn't believe what he had just seen. He went to his computer and played back the audio file to be sure, but he already knew what he would find. The man staring back at him on the news, the man saying that he was going to clean up the city, was the same man that had tormented he and Max a month ago. Quickly Logan hacked into the news station's computer system and downloaded the news clip. With a picture, it would be easier to find out who this guy really was. The news story had said that the man's name was Gene W. Versete, but Logan had a feeling that it was an alias. His suspicions turned out right when several news articles popped up displaying the same picture of the man on TV. His real name was Gerald Conway, a senator from Kansas. 'Why would a senator run for Mayor?' Logan asked himself, 'And why here?'

Logan settled into his chair and prepared to start reading about Senator Conway when Max rushed in the front door. "Logan!" she called out.

"I'm here Max." Logan wandered to the front hall to see what was going on.

"I saw him Logan!" she began, "He was on the news running for Mayor."

Logan held up his hand to stop Max, "I know. I dug around a bit and found some info about who he really is." Logan turned around and headed back to his computer with Max not far behind. "He's using an alias, Gene W. Versete."

Max cut him off, "How do you spell that." Logan showed her and she shook her head, "Logan, that's an anagram for 'sweet revenge'."

Logan looked up at her with wide eyes, "I'll know more when I've searched through these news files about him." He pulled up one of the screens and started reading. 'Senator under investigation in smuggling scandal' was printed in bold black letters on the top of the page, the senator's picture displayed off to the right. "Well that would explain it. It looks like he was involved in an operation I took down a few years back. Seems he took a beating for his involvement, almost cost him his seat on Congress." Logan brought up a new article and read more. "It did cause him the next election."

"If he was involved in the right committee, he could have had access to Manticore files." Max stood up and paced for a moment, "That's how he knew who I was, but how did he know about you?"

"Good question."

"Well how ever he knows we need to stop him. A guy whose name spells 'sweet revenge' isn't my idea of a good mayor."

"It's not that simple Max." Logan shook his head, "With Wittfield out of the way the only other candidate left is the current mayor trying to get re-elected. If Eyes Only outs both of the mayor's opponents he'll look biased."

"Like you took a pay-off." Max was seeing how this was going to complicate matters. "It looks like his revenge is targeted toward you. He knows you can't let this go, but if you go public as Eyes Only it will only discredit you."

"My question is, what's his back-up plan?"

"Back-up plan? What, in case you don't go public?" Max thought for a moment, "I'll bet he's gonna hook up with Mentalos." Logan looked at her slightly confused, "Think about it Logan, he got you to get rid of Wittfield by exposing how he was planning on winning the election. Even if you don't stop Conway from winning, Eyes Only will still look bad."

"Right crime, wrong guy." Logan let out a small sigh, it was going to be a long day.

||| Jam Pony |||

"Where's Max?" Normal screamed to the riders as they walked by.

"She's sick man, I heard she was doing terrible things with her breakfast in the bathroom." Herbal Thought had recently returned from a trip to meet his girlfriend's mother. Now he was back to the old routine of helping keep Max out of trouble with Normal.

"She was doing what?" Normal couldn't understand Herbal half of the time, and the other half he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"She was throwing up." Sketchy said as he joined them.

"I am sick and tired of her being sick!" Normal threw up his hands in frustration, "Nobody is sick that much."

"Your sick too?" Sketchy asked, "Man I'm getting out of here before I catch something." He started to ride away but Normal threw a package at him before he could leave.

"Here take this with you." Normal called out. When Sketchy was gone Normal shook his head, "Idiot."

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

"We need to find a way to get him out of the race without using Eyes Only." Logan thought out loud. "But how?"

"Hello!" Max placed her hands on her hips, "Isn't that what I'm here for?"

"No Max, we are not going to kill him."

Max looked hurt. She couldn't believe Logan would think that would be her first thought. 'He knows your a genetically enhanced killing machine.' she reminded herself. 'Isn't that what you were trained to do at times like this?' A little voice inside her called out an answer, 'No, I've changed!' 'Have you?'

"Actually I was thinking of doing a little recon on him. Eyes Only can't do anything, but an anonymous tip to the right cops might help."

Logan relaxed, he hadn't even realized that he had been tense. 'How can you think she'd be like that Cale? You want to be with her and you do nothing but insult her. Way to go.' "Alright, but"

"Be careful." she finished for him. "I know." Max grabbed her coat and without saying another word, headed for the door.

||| South Market |||

Gerald Conway sat behind an old desk and smiled. He had taken up an old, beaten down building as his campaign headquarters. Conway's strategy was that he was cleaning up the town, starting with the down and dirty. He had his secretary start some clean-up projects in the area to make it look like he was really working. Truth be told he had no intention of becoming Mayor, he knew Eyes Only would never let that happen. So now he sat behind his old desk and smiled, it wasn't a hateful or gleeful smile, this smile was full of perverse pleasure. He rubbed his hands together thinking about how close he was to finally getting rid of Eyes Only.

"Soon..."

It didn't take Max long to find the head quarters of the now, almost famous Gene W. Versete. It was an old rundown building that used to house several small shops. Now outside hung a banner saying 'Versete for Mayor'. Max sighed and went in.

Immediately she was greeted by a young woman in a dark purple business suit. She wore flats which made Max realize that she was probably Versete's secretary. After all, she would be doing a lot of running around, helping run a campaign for Mayor.

"May I help you?" Asked the secretary.

"Hi!" Max started as she approached the woman. "I saw Mr. Versete's speech on TV and I was hoping I could help out."

The secretary opened her mouth to speak but what ever she was going to say was cut off by Versete himself walking into the room.

"Stacy," He said, "Have you seen my briefcase?" Versete stopped and seemed to notice Max for the first time. "Hello there." He extended a hand toward Max, "Here to help out?"

Max took his hand and shook it tightly. "Yes actually, I saw you on TV and I would love to help."

"Terrific!" He clapped his hands together as if to emphasize the point. Then he beckoned her to follow him and turned toward his office, "What is your name?"

"Sweet" she replied, "Sweet Rachel Venge" Versete stopped for only a moment, then without looking at Max continued toward his office. Max smiled, he had gotten the message, now all she had to do was reel him in.

Versete invited Max to sit down directly across from him. When they were both seated he looked into her eyes and smiled. "Sweet, a beautiful name for a beautiful young woman."

"Versete," Max replied with mock thoughtfulness, "Is that Italian?"

The man before her forced a laugh, but his voice betrayed no humor. "No actually, it's British." 'She knows,' he said to himself, 'and she's here. Who says good things don't still happen in this world.' He reached down and pressed a button on the bottom of his desk and smiled.

In the next room over, a red light began flashing. The four men in the room stood up and grabbed their weapons.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan rocked back and forth in his chair, a movement that had replaced his pacing. Ever since Max left he had had a bad feeling. He reached a decision and moved for the phone. He picked up the receiver and dialed most of Max's pager number before he stopped, Max was already mad at him, he didn't want to make it worse by appearing like he didn't trust her. Slowly he put the phone back down. 'She's a big girl Cale, she can take care of herself.' He looked at the phone again, 'I hope she's alright.'

||| Versete's office |||

Max didn't like the way Versete was smiling. 'He's up to something' she thought. She smiled back sweetly, but the look in her eyes was one of a predator. Her senses were on fire. Max heard the door begin to open before the knob even turned, and before she could think she was on her feet ready to fight. The door swung open and four large men rolled out pointing various guns at her. Max did not hesitate as she kicked the gun out of the hands of the man closest to her.

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan tried to concentrate on his latest Eyes Only tip but he found his eyes wandering back to the phone. No matter how many times he told himself that she was alright, he couldn't shake that bad feeling. Finally giving in, he moved to the phone and punched in Max's pager number.

||| Versete's office |||

Versete sat and watched the woman before him. He had heard of the fighting power of the Manticore X-5's, but seeing them in action was like poetry. Sighing he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a taser gun. He aimed it at Max and fired.

Max was gaining the upper hand, but she knew she couldn't stick around. It was a good possibility that Versete had more of his goons waiting somewhere and one of them might be more trigger happy than these bozos. She was just about to take down the last of them when something went wrong. She wasn't sure at first what had happened, all she was aware of was the searing pain cursing through her body. She convulsed violently and a moment later lost conciseness. The last thought that entered her head was the realization that someone was blowing up her pager.

||| Versete's/Conway's office |||

Gerald Conway knelt down next to the body before him. One of the greatest military inventions lay before him helpless. Around him were his henchmen, in various states of consciousness, handiwork of the woman on the ground in front of him. Now she just looked like a regular girl, a child in fact. But to Conway she was much more, Max was his ace in the hole. Looking down he noticed Max's paged vibrating away. Slipping it off of her belt he peered at the number on the LCD screen. Conway stood up and reached for the phone, smiling he dialed the numbers of his adversary.

||| Logan's Penthouse|||

It had only been five minutes since Logan had paged Max, but with each minute his bad feeling went from bad to worse. He punched in a few keys on his phone forwarding it to his cell and got ready to go look for her. Logan was at the door when his cell phone rang out. He hastily flipped it open and placed it against his ear.

"Max?"

It was several seconds before someone answered, but to Logan it felt like hours. "Hello Mr Cale."

Logan's worry for Max faded to pure anger and rage as he realized who he was speaking to. "Versete, or should I call you Conway."

"I have something of yours."

Logan froze, "Max" he said her name so quietly that he was unsure if it had even escaped his lips.

"Yes, Max." Apparently it had. "I'll make a deal with you Mr Cale. You drop Eyes Only here and now and I'll let her go." When he received no answer he continued. "Of course Mr Cale, feel free to take your time considering my offer. After all, it's not very often I have such a pretty guest all to myself."

Logan squeezed the phone so tight, that had he not been so blind with rage, he would have feared he might break it. "Let her go and we'll talk."

"Mr Cale, you know I can't do that."

Logan fumed, "Let her go or I'll..."

"You'll what Mr Cale?" Conway asked, "Go public with who I really am? Go ahead. But I think we both know what that will do to Eyes Only."

"You'll never get away with this." Logan told him.

"Ah but Mr Cale, I already have."

||| Conway's office |||

Conway had his men tie Max up to a nearby support pole. Sending one of the men to guard the entrance, he ordered the rest to stay with him. He didn't expect Max to take long to recover from the assault and he was right, only a few moments after he ended his call with Logan she awoke.

Max assessed her surroundings before she opened her eyes. She knew she was chained and was probably still in Conway's office. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around, she was right that she was still in Conway's office. Max noticed her pager sitting on the desk and thought of Logan, she found herself wishing she had let him in on her little plan to walk into the lions den.

"You'll never take down Eyes Only." Max spat at Conway.

"Ms Guevera," Conway began with a smirk playing on his lips. He made a tisk tisk sound and shook his finger at Max. "I have you, therefore I have Eyes Only in my back pocket. He'll do whatever I tell him to do."

"Logan would never give up Eyes Only, not even for me."

"Then you underestimate his feelings for you."

Max replied seriously, "We're not even like that."

"Tell yourself that all you wish Ms Guevera, but repeating that old mantra will not make it true." He brought his face within inches from hers, "Empires have fallen over the love of a woman, so shall Eyes Only."

Max found herself wondering again how Conway found out that Logan was Eyes Only, she considered asking but found the idea was too clich .

||| Logan's Penthouse |||

Logan listened to the dial tone for a long time before throwing the cell phone across the room. A moment later a small sickening beep escaped it. Logan's head shot up to look at the phone on the floor, slowly he wheeled over and picked it up. Still on the small display was the phone number of the last person that had called him. Logan silently thanked the fates that he had bought a phone with that feature. He moved to his computer and punched the phone number into it. It didn't take long for an address to appear, Logan jotted down the location and raced out the door as fast as his arms would take him.

||| South Market |||

Logan parked his Aztec down the street from Conway's building. He sat there for several minutes thinking of a plan, but nothing would come. He found himself almost craving to shoot Conway in the head. But he knew that would not help Max, and right now he was concerned with little else. Slowly he made his way out of his car and into his chair. Logan checked the small handgun he had brought with him. Six bullets.

Tucking the gun away in his chair he made his way down the road. For a brief moment Logan allowed a smile as he pictured himself a knight going to slay the dragon that held his fair princess captive. Only, he realized, he had no armor, and this dragon had very sharp teeth.

When Logan reached the front entrance he was greeted by a burly man standing guard. "I'm here to see Conway." Logan explained. The other man looked him over but said nothing as he moved aside allowing Logan to pass. He wheeled through the reception area. Conway's secretary was gathering her things, preparing to retire for the evening. Logan studied her for a moment, she seemed to be in a hurry and was making a point of not looking at Logan. 'She knows what's happening.' Logan thought as he moved past her.

Logan was about to ask where Conway's office was when Conway walked into the room. "Good night Stacy!" Conway called out as his secretary headed for the door. She didn't respond, she didn't even look back. After she left, Conway glanced down at Logan and smiled. "Mr Cale, I've been expecting you."

"I'll bet you have."

Conway just continued his smile as he directed Logan toward his office. The guard at the door followed close behind, never taking his eyes off of the man in the wheelchair before him. Logan saw Max the moment he entered the office, she was chained to a support beam on the right side of the room.

"Max!" he called out to her. She turned her head around to see Logan, she had heard him in the other room and was not surprised to see him.

"What ever you're thinking Logan, don't. Don't give up Eyes Only for me." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Don't let me hold you back." Later Logan would replay those words over and over in his head, and find it sweet irony.

"Don't worry Max." As if on que, one of the guards in the room lifted Logan from his wheelchair and placed him in a chair sitting across from Conway's desk. He was sitting right next to Max. Logan glanced back at his wheelchair which had been moved to the far wall. He had no way of getting to his gun now.

Conway sat at his desk and smiled. "You should be grateful Mr Cale, at least I'm not turning you over to the real bad guys. They want you dead."

"You never had any intention of becoming Mayor did you?" Logan accused the man in front of him.

"No actually I didn't. But who knows, I could have fun with this city. Imagine the connections I could make with no Eyes Only to worry about."

"Just because he can't expose your little scheme to become Mayor doesn't mean we can't expose your other little projects." Max told him.

"But you see Ms Guevera," He stood up and walked toward her, "Mr Cale is here to give up Eyes Only, for you." He shifted his gaze to Logan, "Because if he doesn't, bad things will befall a certain X-5."

"Fine, I'll give up Eyes Only. Just don't hurt her." Logan said finally.

"Logan no!" Max pleaded, but Logan had already made up his mind.

Conway smiled and pulled out a small key. He handed it to Logan saying, "Don't forget Mr Cale, I'll be watching."

Logan slipped the key to Max as Conway started to leave the office. "One thing Conway." Logan called after him, "How did you know I was Eyes Only."

Conway turned back around and let out a chuckle. "I got a 'tip' that you were a middle man of sorts for Eyes Only. So I decided to watch you and see if you would lead me to the big man. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was you."

That was all the information Max needed, she undid the lock and with lightning speed was free from the chains and on top of Conway. It didn't take much to bring him down and then she was on the guards. In the shuffle Logan's wheelchair fell over and the gun spilled out across the floor. Logan moved to the ground and reached for the weapon. Once he had it he slowly scooted toward Conway's sleeping form and trained the gun on his head.

Max finished off the last of the guards and locked the door. She wedged a chair in front of the door to help hold off any other guards that were sure to be on their way. But she knew it would not hold them for long. "Logan we have to go now!"

Max grabbed Logan's wheelchair and brought it to him. "What about Conway!" Logan reminded Max.

"We'll figure something out later, right now we need to get out of here." They were searching for another way out when a loud click sounded throughout the room. It was the sound of a gun being cocked. This was followed by a soft laughter that slowly grew into the cackle of a madman.

"You'll never get away from me." Max and Logan turned to see a half-conscience Conway pointing a gun in their direction. Conway leveled the gun at Logan and smiled, he was so close to destroying Eyes Only. He prepared to fire, then before anyone knew what had happened he trained the gun on Max and fired. Max went flying backward finally falling on the floor behind her.

"Max!" Logan cried out to her, but he got no response. 'That Bastard!' screamed a voice in his mind. Consumed with a blind rage, Logan reached for his gun and unloaded all six bullets into Conway's body.

Satisfied that Conway was dead he turned to where Max lay. Slowly he pulled her into his lap and began to asses the damage caused by the bullet. Blood seemed to be everywhere. Logan hastily undid Max's shirt and pulled it back to get a better look at the wound. The bullet had gone clean through her left shoulder and out the other side. Logan checked at her neck for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he found one. "Max." He called to her, "Max can you hear me?" Using one hand to support Max, Logan searched with the other for his cell phone. He had to call Sam, there was no telling how bad she had been hurt.

Finally he found his cell and began to call Sam when a low groan from Max stopped him.

"Logan?"

Logan almost dropped his phone when he realized that Max was waking up. "Max are you alright?"

"I think so." She tried to raise her arm but found that it was not only painful but difficult as well. "Ow!"

"Careful Max, I think the bullet may have broken something. Hold on, I'm going to call Sam Carr."

Max spotted Conway's body in a pool pf blood not far off. "Logan?" Logan turned his head toward her, phone to his ear. "Is it over?"

"Yeah, it's over." Logan's head popped up as someone answered the phone. "Sam? It's Logan." Logan explained the situation to Sam, as much as he could without revealing he and Max's alter egos. When he was done he turned his attention back to Max. "Help's on the way."

Max smiled weakly up at Logan, "You know, it's gonna be kinda hard to cook with a broken wing."

Despite the worry he was feeling for Max, Logan laughed. "Let's see what the doc says first, then we'll talk about dinner."

Max nodded and with Logan's help crawled the rest of the way into his lap and went to sleep. They were still like that twenty minutes later when Dr Carr came to get them.

||| Logan's Penthouse - The next day |||

Logan had driven Max to work that morning, but when Normal saw her bandaged arm he told her she was useless to him until she healed. Then he told her not step foot on the premises until she could do some work again. The bullet had torn through three muscles in her shoulder and chipped her bone. Dr Carr estimated it would be at least three days before she was well enough to stop using the sling. So now she sat talking with Logan on his couch.

"You can't be serious." Logan exclaimed, he couldn't believe the story Max was telling him.

"No seriously Logan," Max told him, "She used to be a guy."

"Did Normal know?" Max opened her mouth to answer but stopped as something on the TV caught her attention.

On the television was a story about a murder. "Gene W. Versete, rumored to be the next Mayor." Said the reporter. "The sector cops believe it to be related to the Mafia since several mob thugs were found at the scene." The view on the screen switched over to the Sector Police spokesman. It was Matt Sung.

"It has been found that Mr Versete was really a former congressman, voted out of office for illegal actions. We believe that some of those illegal actions contributed to his death."

The scene switched back to the reporter who spouted off some trivial opinions. And that was all that was said of the man that had put the two of them through hell. That was all Max and Logan wanted said.

"So, Eyes Only got his man in the end." Max commented as she looked back toward Logan.

"No," He corrected her, "Logan Cale got his man, Eyes Only was kinda out of the picture this time." Logan looked at Max with a seriousness to him, "You think he tipped of Manticore that you're here?" He hated to bring Manticore up, Max always seemed to drift away when she talked about it. It scared him sometimes.

"He was out for Eyes Only. I think if he thought he needed to he would have." Max lowered her eyes for a moment, as if a bad memory was threatening to surface. "But I don't think he did."

Logan, desperate to lighten the mood said, "So, how about something to eat?"

"Sounds good, whatcha cookin'" Max asked him.

"Me?" Logan looked at her in mock shock. "YOU owe ME a meal remember?"

Max smiled mischievously, "I think the bet was for dinner, and seeing that this is lunch time..." She allowed the thought to trail off.

Logan shook his head, he knew he had been beaten for now. He made his way to the kitchen with Max in tow. That evening they decided to wait until Max healed more before she tried dinner so Logan ended up cooking. Max stayed over in the guest room, and that night, Logan had no nightmares.

THE END 


End file.
